Will the Real Pirate Please Stand Up

Pam Keyes recently published an article about Daniel Todd Patterson's activities against innocent bystanders during the Patterson-Ross raid at Barataria.

http://www.historiaobscura.com/the-saga-of-melita-and-the-patterson-ross-raid-at-barataria/

If you review the evidence objectively, it was Patterson, not Laffite, who was the real pirate. I have nothing to add to what Pam Keyes has uncovered except to ask:

•           Why did Patterson behave this way?
•           Why were all complaints against this behavior met with indifference?
•            Who really gained from the Patterson-Ross raid?
•            Why don't the history books tell us about this? 

 I know a lot of people who say: "Don't rehash old history. Don't keep reliving the past. You can't change the past, so concentrate on the present."

I am concentrating on the present. But how do we fix the present, if we don't understand the past?

Isn't this an ongoing problem?